rollerskating
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: Kumiko and Reina decide to go on a small date.


**a/n:** hey remember that hiatus? yeah it's more like...not posting quite as frequently. i love kumirei too much to not write about them at all

also i managed to get my hands on a copy of the translated first novel and it had a lot of interesting tidbits - kumiko's family used to live in tokyo!

* * *

It was the little things, Kumiko thought, that revealed so much about the people you'd get to know. The way they'd tear open a package, the glint in their eyes, the smallest parts of her friends she'd never have noticed in a million years without knowing them first.

It was this train of thought that led to the realization that Reina wasn't quite acting herself one day. The train rattled along the tracks, as it always did, as it always would, and Reina picked at her fingernails with all the precision of a junior surgeon.

"H-hey, is everything okay?" Kumiko asked. Reina didn't look up as she shook her head.

"I'm tired." That seemed to be it, for answers, and Kumiko couldn't think of anything else to say in response. The train's metal walls felt like they were closing in on the two girls. "Exam season, you know, it's all piling on too fast."

"Yeah, I get that." Kumiko swung her legs back and forth, her eyelids drooping just enough that they seemed to move in a blur. She'd never have admitted it, but she felt exhausted, too. "W-why don't we do something, then?"

"Like what?"

"Oh, uh, how about going to . . . the park?"

"It's cloudy outside. It'd probably rain by the time we got there." Kumiko looked out the window and, sure enough, the sky had turned the ugliest shade of gray, a warning hanging heavy in the humid air.

"The movies?"

"I think we've seen everything in the theaters twice now, courtesy of Nakagawa-senpai."

"She _does_ love her movies." Kumiko plucked at the loose seams of the faux-leather seat of the train. "H-hey, what about rollerskating?"

"What?"

"Y'know, when you roll around in a big rink on wheels. I used to go to one a lot when I was little."

"Do we have one of those in Uji?"

"I think there's one the next town over. If we keep taking the train, we'd, uh, we'd probably make it there."

"I don't see why not." The clouds still dangled overhead. "It's a Friday, after all. I'm not in any hurry to get back home."

* * *

"How did you know about this, anyway?" Reina looked around at the room surrounding her, flickering disco lights illuminating her face while teenagers and adults wishing they were teenagers all scrambled around in the rink.

"My family lived in Tokyo when I was really young. W-we used to go to one of these a lot. That's what Mamiko says, at least. I don't really remember much of it."

"Hmm." A crowd of older men whooped over drinks in one corner, while a birthday party of kids waved around streamers like they were the most interesting things in the world. "I suppose it's nice, in its own way."

"What do you mean?"

"It's . . . cozy. There's nothing that can reach us in here." A cheesy pop song played through the speakers, though Kumiko could hardly hear it over the din.

"Yeah." Kumiko looked at the rink again, then back to Reina. "S-should I get us the skates?"

"There isn't really anything else to do here, so I'd imagine so." Reina's eyes glinted with a playfulness that made Kumiko's heart thump. "I'll be waiting here." Kumiko gave her a quick half-wave before she made her way into the line, crumpled bills held tightly in shaky hands as she waited for her turn. Reina stood to the back, leaning against the edge of the rink like the rebellious protagonist of a bad teen movie.

"Here with a date?" the man at the desk asked, the stubble on his face just starting to grow into a beard. Kumiko shuddered involuntarily.

"Y-yes," she mumbled. The man plucked a pair of skates off a shelf that looked like it'd fall apart at any moment before reaching out a grubby hand. Kumiko unceremoniously handed him the bills.

"Have fun." Kumiko took the skates, wondering how many people had worn them before her, but those thoughts all but fell away with one look at Reina's surprisingly eager expression.

"I should warn you that I don't have any idea how to do this," Reina said, pulling on the skates with deft, quick fingers.

"W-well, that's good, because I don't, either." Kumiko finished tying the last lace on her skate before standing up to shaky feet. "Hold onto me, okay?"

"I will." Reina clasped her hand, warm and soft as it always was, and the two girls made their way into the rink. The song still played, growing a bit louder, while couples and gaggles of kids danced around as if they were flying. Kumiko could barely stand upright. "Kumiko?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think we're moving." Reina was holding her so tightly that Kumiko figured she must've been terrified of letting go.

"I don't really know how." Kumiko kept her other hand on the edge of the rink, trying not to think about whatever sticky substance was on her palm. "M-maybe if we push off at the same time, we'll be okay?"

"On the count of three, then." Reina took a deep, shuddering breath. "One."

"Two."

 _"Three!"_ Kumiko released her grip on the rink with sweaty fingers, and a brief moment passed when she felt nearly euphoric - she was flying, she was _flying_ and Reina was right there by her side - before she gracelessly skidded to the ground and took Reina down with her.

"S-sorry!" she yelped, shaking, blushing furiously. Reina stared, wordlessly, at her - or perhaps at the ceiling, Kumiko couldn't tell. "I really didn't mean to do that, I'll just get up now, it's fine." She scrambled to get up, rollerskates clicking as they refused to comply. Reina's expression was as carefully blank, as it always was.

"We should do something else," she said. Kumiko wobbled to her feet.

"Yep, that sounds great - sounds amazing, actually, I d-dunno what could be better than something else, we should probably just forget that this happened, y'know?" She wondered if Reina could hear the uncertainty in her voice, the shakiness that accompanied her body struggling to stay in place.

"I saw some video games over there." Reina jabbed a finger in the direction of a cluster of boxy games squashed together in a corner. "Those might be . . . easier." She didn't have to tell Kumiko twice - she was already kicking off the skates and running, still in her socks, to the games. More specifically, she might've been running away from the rink, from the humiliation she still felt slamming against her ribcage, from _Reina._

 _Idiot. Idiot. You just_ had _to invite her rollerskating, didn't you? You couldn't have just asked her what was wrong. She's going to hate you now._ Kumiko snuck a glance back at Reina, who was still trying to force her way across the rink with her head tilted to the side in confusion. _Especially now that you've abandoned her, which you promised you'd never do. You're breaking your-_

"Reina!" she yelled, her body and mind on autopilot. The sticky feeling still clung to her fingers. "Grab my hand!" Reina looked up to see Kumiko at the edge of the rink, hand outstretched as far as it'd go. Her arm was starting to grow weary. Reina inched along, taking baby steps, and Kumiko tried to ignore the small crowd beginning to stare at the two of them. "I t-think you're almost there!" Fingertips nearly touching, Kumiko leaned over and closed the gap. Reina stumbled forward, and Kumiko didn't let go as she crept to the rink's exit. "You're okay, you're okay. We're okay."

She wasn't quite sure who hugged who, but she did know that they were suddenly comfortably close, holding each other like lost lovers after a war. A few people cheered.

"Kumiko," Reina breathed, shaking as she laughed, "-I think it'd be nice if we never did that again."

"Me too, Reina."

* * *

They sat outside as the sun set, munching on bad arcade food with hands intertwined.

"Reina?" Kumiko murmured, taking one last bite of her god-awful food before chucking it into the trash.

"Yes?"

"I-if you don't mind me asking this, what was really bothering you today? On the train?"

"I was tired," Reina said simply. "I needed a break, I suppose, and that's what this was. I guess a thank you is in order, hmm?"

"No problem, Reina." Kumiko looked out at the trees framing the sun and the fiery sky. "I promised never to abandon you, didn't I?"

"You did."

"I'm making good on that."

* * *

The train rattled on their way home, as it always did, but as Reina slept against Kumiko's shoulder, all she felt was calm.

* * *

 **a/n:** i don't really have anything to say here but it feels weird not to put an author's note at the end


End file.
